t 

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RADCLIFFE 

COLLEGE 


PRESIDENT  LE  BARON  R BRIGGS 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Irwin  Gate , Radclijfe  College 


*A  "BRIEF  DESCRIPTION 

BY 


President  Le  BARON  R.  BRIGGS 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Library , Agassiz  House , and  Gymnasium 


Radcliffe  College  owes  its  origin  to  no  munificent  be- 
quest, to  no  gift  of  money,  of  buildings,  or  of  land,  but  to 
a demand  which  has  sustained  it  from  the  beginning,  though 
it  began  with  no  money  whatsoever  and  though  the  pro- 
portion of  its  unrestricted  income  to  its  annual  accomplish- 
ment has  been  incredibly  small.  Half  a century  ago  ambi- 
tious girls  might  take  in  New  York  examinations  to  prove 
that,  if  Harvard  College  had  been  open  to  women,  they 
might  have  entered  Harvard  College  ; but  Harvard  College 
had  no  thought  of  being  open  to  women.  In  i 878,  a young 
woman,  healthy,  studious,  capable,  and  well  trained,  pre- 
sented herself  in  Cambridge  at  the  houses  of  Professor  Wil- 
liam W.  Goodwin,  Professor  James  B.  Greenough,  and 
Professor  Francis  J.  Child,  asking  these  gentlemen  for  pri- 
vate instruction  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  English.  The  novelty 
of  the  request,  the  winning  eagerness  of  the  young  woman, 
surprised  the  three  professors  into  consent ; the  excellence 


Page  Two 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


of  her  work  precluded  all  regrets  for  their  unprecedented 
experiment. 

This  young  woman,  afterward  Professor  Leach  of  Vassar 
College,  is  known  as  “the  Nucleus”  of  the  the  so-called 
Harvard  Annex  out  of  which  came  Radcliffe  College.  Miss 
Leach’s  performance  suggested  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Gil- 
man that,  without  coeducation,  the  intellectual  and  the  ma- 
terial resources  of  Harvard  College  might  be  made  available 
to  girls  of  intellectual  promise.  A small  group  of  men  and 
women  in  Cambridge  took  up  the  idea  ; and  President  Eliot 
gave  it  such  support  as  only  he  could  give.  Thus,  in  1879, 
was  formed  the  Society  for  the  Collegiate  Instruction  of 
Women.  The  name  was  inconvenient,  and  the  new  society, 
a sort  of  lean-to  on  Harvard  College,  became  known  as  the 
“Harvard  Annex.”  Its  students,  designated  in  the  Harvard 
University  catalogue  as  “persons  pursuing  courses  of  study 
in  Cambridge  under  the  direction  of  the  Society  for  the 
Collegiate  Instruction  of  Women,”  were  popularly  known 
as  “Annex  Girls.” 

Mrs.  Louis  Agassiz  (Elizabeth  Cary  Agassiz)  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society;  Mr.  Arthur  Gilman,  as  Secretary,  was 
its  business  executive.  For  very  small  pay  a few  Harvard 
teachers  repeated  parts  of  their  Harvard  teaching  with  small 
classes  of  girls.  Since  the  curriculum  covered  the  courses 
prescribed  at  Harvard  and  offered  a considerable  number  of 
elective  courses,  a girl  who  had  passed  the  Harvard  exami- 
nations for  admission  might  in  four  years  do  what  would 
have  secured  for  a man  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
The  Annex,  however,  was  not  authorized  to  give  a degree 
of  any  kind  ; it  gave  a certificate. 


Page  Three 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


With  twenty-seven  students,  regular  and  special,  with  no 
money,  with  the  merest  apology  for  a library,  without  a 
single  building  but  with  two  or  three  small  rooms  hired  in 
private  houses,  the  Annex  did  pioneer  work  of  memorable 
excellence.  The  Harvard  Library  gave  to  the  girls  certain 
privileges  ; the  Harvard  teachers  took  up  their  new  teaching 
with  keen  interest ; the  students,  in  those  days  when  Col- 
lege education  for  girls  was  unfashionable,  had  come  to 
study,  and  studied  with  enthusiasm.  It  was  clear  that  the 
work  of  the  Annex  must  go  on. 

In  1894,  the  Annex  was  transformed  into  Radcliffe  Col- 
lege, taking  its  name  from  Ann  Radcliffe,  afterward  Lady 
Mowlson,  who  had  given  to  Harvard  College  in  1643  a 
hundred  pounds  for  a scholarship,  the  first  scholarship 
given  to  Harvard  by  a woman.  The  new  college  received 
from  the  Legislature  a charter  which  authorized  it  to  con- 

Gymnasium 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Whitman  Room,  Radcliffe  College  Library 


fer  degrees,  with  the  proviso  that  every  degree  conferred 
must  be  certified  by  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard 
College  as  equivalent  to  the  corresponding  degree  in  Har- 
vard University.  When  the  granting  of  this  charter  was 
opposed  by  persons  who  hoped  to  force  Harvard  into  giv- 
ing its  own  degrees  to  women,  Mrs.  Agassiz,  by  the  simple 
directness  of  her  speech  and  by  the  transparent  beauty  of  her 
character,  was  the  college’s  best  advocate.  It  must  not  be 
inferred  that  the  founders  of  Radcliffe  would  have  opposed 
the  incorporation  of  Radcliffe  into  Harvard  as  a women’s 
college  giving  Harvard  degrees.  They  chose  to  secure  the 
obvious  good  rather  than  lose  much  and  stake  all  in  fighting 


Page  Five 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


for  the  impossible ; they  chose  to  maintain  a friendlier  and 
more  favorable  relation  with  Harvard  than  had  ever  existed, 
rather  than  rouse  a hostility  which  would  set  back  indefi- 
nitely the  Harvard  education  of  women. 

Mrs.  Agassiz  was  the  first  President  of  Radcliffe.  Miss 
Agnes  Irwin,  a great-granddaughter  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
came  from  her  school  for  girls  in  Philadelphia,  as  the  first 
Dean.  Major  Henry  Lee  Higginson  was  the  first  Treasurer. 

In  1901,  Radcliffe  built  its  first  dormitory,  Bertram  Hall, 
a gift  of  the  late  Clara  Bertram  Kimball  (Mrs.  David  P. 
Kimball)  who  later  gave  to  the  college  its  second  dormitory, 
The  Gymnasium  from  the  and  named  it  Grace  Hop- 

Steps  Of  Agassiz.  House  kinson  Eliot  Hall,  in  honor 

of  Mrs.  Charles  William 
Eliot.  Another  dormitory, 
Sarah  Whitman  Hall,  was 
built  in  memory  of  Mrs. 
Sarah  Wyman  Whitman, 
who  had  served  long  in  the 
Council  of  Radcliffe  Col- 
lege; and  still  another, 
James  and  Augusta  Barnard 
Hall,  was  contributed  by 
the  Barnard  family.  In 
1898,  Mrs.  Augustus  Hem- 
enway,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  her  husband,  who 
had  given  a gymnasium  to 
Harvard,  gave  an  admirable 
gymnasium  to  Radcliffe. 


Page  Six 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Grace  Hopkinson  Eliot  Hall 


Through  the  good  offices  of  Dean  Irwin,  the  college  ob- 
tained from  Mr.  Carnegie  an  excellent  building  for  its  large 
and  growing  library.  As  an  administration  building  it  uses 
Fay  House,  a fine  old  mansion  close  to  the  Washington  Elm. 
In  Fay  House  Samuel  Gilman  wrote  “ Fair  Harvard/’ 
When  Mrs.  Agassiz  was  eighty  years  old,  her  family  and 
friends,  led  by  her  son-in-law,  the  late  Henry  Lee  Higgin- 
son,  celebrated  her  birthday  by  giving  her  Elizabeth  Cary 
Agassiz  House,  that  she  might  give  it  to  Radcliffe  College. 
Elizabeth  Cary  Agassiz  House  is  the  centre  of  student  activi- 
ty. It  contains  a large  living  room,  a theatre,  a restaurant, 
and  divers  rooms  for  meetings  of  small  clubs  ; and  it  is  espe- 
cially valuable  to  the  many  students  who  come  to  the  college 
daily  from  neighboring  towns  and  spend  in  this  building  such 
of  their  hours  as  are  not  occupied  by  class  work  or  by  physi- 
cal exercise.  The  living  room  serves  as  a chapel  for  morning 


Page  Seven 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


prayers,  as  an  informal  lecture  hall  for  the  larger  clubs,  as  a 
tea  room,  a reception  room,  a ballroom,  and  between  times 
as  a place  of  rest  and  conversation.  The  theatre  is  used  for 
mass  meetings,  for  lectures  at  which  large  audiences  are  ex- 
pected, and  for  theatricals  — in  particular  for  the  plays  of 
Professor  Baker’s  famous  “47  Work-Shop”  and  the  plays  of 
the  Idler  Club. 

The  Idler  Club,  to  which  practically  every  student  in  the 
College  belongs,  brings  Radcliffe  girls  together  with  that 
peculiar  intimacy  which  association  in  fun  that  is  work  and 
work  that  is  fun  inevitably  involves.  It  distributes  the  respon- 
sibility of  one  dramatic  entertainment  among  persons  so 
many  and  varied,  its  entertainments  come  so  often,  its  student 
audiences  are  so  large,  that  to  it  more  than  to  almost  anything 

Living  Room , 'James  and  Augusta  Barnard  Hall 


Page  Eight 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


else  may  be  attributed 
the  wholesomely  demo- 
cratic tone  of  Radcliffe 
College.  Another  large 
and  important  club  is 
the  Guild,  which  busies 
itself  with  good  works  of 
all  kinds.  The  Liberal 
Club  discusses  from  va- 
ried and  diverse  points  of 
view  the  greater  ques- 
tions of  government,  eco- 
nomics, and  sociology, 
remembering  that  “lib- 
eral” means,  not  “rev- 
olutionary,” but  “open- 
minded.”  The  Choral 
Society,  trained  by  Professor  Archibald  T.  Davison,  sings 
Christmas  music  every  year  with  the  Harvard  Glee  Club, 
and  has  sung  with  the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra. 

Lack  of  space  forbids  more  than  a mere  mention  of  the 
Athletic  Association,  the  Radcliffe  News,  the  Catholic  Club, 
the  English  Club,  the  Poetry  Club,  the  Glee  Club,  the 
Mandolin  Club,  the  Debating  Club,  and  others.  Radcliffe 
students  have  no  lack  of  social  life,  and  such  social  life  as 
gives  them  valuable  training. 

Good  training  in  responsibility  is  provided,  also,  by  the 
Student  Government  Association,  whose  officers  cooperate 
with  the  college  authorities  and  command  their  entire  con- 
fidence. Almost  invariably  the  girls  whom  their  fellow- 


Fay  House  Entrance 


Page  Nine 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Radcliffe  College  Library 


students  honor  with  the  highest  offices  are  girls  of  whom 
the  college  may  well  be  proud  ; for  the  instinct  of  young 
people  in  the  choice  of  leaders  is  astonishingly  sure.  In  1920- 
2 1 , the  presidents  of  four  great  clubs  were  not  merely  lead- 
ing citizens,  but  leading  scholars.  All  four  were  members  of 
Phi  Beta  Kappa;  and  two  were  in  the  “ First  Five,”  who 
are  chosen  in  the  junior  year. 

From  the  beginning  Radcliffe  teaching  has  been  Harvard 
teaching.  In  the  Harvard  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences  is  a 
Committee  on  Instruction  and  Degrees  in  Radcliffe  College. 
This  committee,  with  the  addition  of  the  President  and  the 
Dean  of  Radcliffe,  forms  the  Academic  Board  of  Radcliffe 
College.  No  person  may  vote  on  a question  of  a Radcliffe 
degree  unless  he  may  vote  on  a question  of  a Harvard  degree. 


Page  Ten 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


The  Harvard  Committee  on  Instruction  and  Degrees  in  Rad- 
cliffe  College  guarantees  to  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
the  equivalence  of  Radcliffe  degrees  to  Harvard  degrees;  the 
Faculty  guarantees  it  to  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Har- 
vard College;  and  the  President  of  Harvard  College  guaran- 
tees it  on  every  Radcliffe  diploma.  In  everything  but  name, 
a Radcliffe  degree  is  a Harvard  degree.  Radcliffe  exists  to 
give  women  a Harvard  education  by  opening  to  them,  with 
out  coeducation  except  in  small  advanced  classes,  as  much 
as  possible  of  what  is  best  in  Harvard. 

In  Harvard  a candidate  for  the  degree  of  A.  B.  must  have 
an  elementary  knowledge  in  . 7 _ . TT 

J ° Elizabeth.  Lary  Agassi % House 

several  departments  of  learn- 
ing and  much  more  than  an 
elementary  knowledge  in 
some  one  department.  In  the 
subjects  of  concentration 
many  departments  require  a 
general  examination  at  the 
end  of  the  Senior  year.  Thus 
the  student  is  saved  from 
measuring  his  knowledge  by 
isolated  elective  courses ; he 
must  connect  the  subjects  of 
those  courses  with  each  other, 
must  “ fill-in  ” by  reading 
and  study  under  the  super- 
vision of  a tutor  or,  in  some 
subjects,  a professor  or  other 
instructor.  So  far  as  Harvard 


Page  Eleven 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


has  adopted  the  tutorial  system  and  the  system  of  general 
examinations,  Radcliffe  has  adopted  them,  not  merely  as 
improvements,  but  as  essential  to  the  equivalence  of  the 
Radcliffe  and  Harvard  degrees. 

Radcliffe  courses  of  study  are  conducted  by  none  but 
Harvard  teachers.  Among  these  teachers  offering  courses  at 
Radcliffe  for  the  year  1921-22  are  ciglil^  stf  full  professors 
in  Harvard  University.  Certain  other  full  professors,  not 
offering  courses,  stand  ready  to  guide  promising  students  in 
research.  Of  the  six  hundred  and  fifty-four  students  regis- 
tered at  Radcliffe  in  1920-21,  one  hundred  and  forty-one 
were  graduate  students  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Such 
students  are  drawn  to  Radcliffe  by  the  reputation  of  certain 
professors  and  by  the  priceless  opportunity  for  research  in 
the  library  of  Harvard  University,  where  advanced  students 
may  secure  the  privileges  of  the  stack.  Besides  the  degrees 
of  A.  B.,  A.  A.,  and  A.  M.  Radcliffe  confers  every  year  the 
degree  of  Ph.  D. 

Thus,  from  the  beginning,  Radcliffe  has  been  a woman’s 
Harvard.  It  is  still  a separate  institution  with  its  own  cor- 
poration, receiving  from  Harvard  no  direct  financial  aid. 
A Harvard  Endowment  Fund  is  not  a Radcliffe  Endow- 
ment Fund;  and  all  that  makes  education  more  costly  at 
Harvard  makes  it  more  costly  at  Radcliffe. 

Whatever  the  ultimate  relation  of  Radcliffe  and  Harvard 
may  be,  neither  institution  desires  undergraduate  coeduca- 
tion. Yet  Radcliffe  College  is  not  a college  of  isolated  girls. 
Its  students  enjoy  the  advantages  of  life  in  Cambridge  and 
near  Boston,  mingle  freely  and  naturally  with  the  outside 
world,  and  are  under  no  special  temptation  either  to  over- 


Page  Twelve 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


value  or  to  undervalue  the  society  of  men.  Radcliffe  has, 
also,  a character  of  its  own,  which,  though  originating  in 
Harvard,  is  not  Harvard’s.  Its  light  is  not  all  borrowed  light; 
its  individuality  is  as  plainly  marked  as  that  of  Vassar,  or 
Smith,  or  Mount  Holyoke,  or  Bryn  Mawr. 

Yet  out  of  the  tradition  of  Harvard  comes  Radcliffe’s 
abiding  strength,  and  the  inspiration  of  that  work  which  has 
brought  distinction  to  so  many  of  its  graduates.  Our  oldest 
university  is  in  spirit  one  of  the  youngest.  The  tradition  of 
Harvard,  though  by  no  means  the  only  great  educational 
tradition  of  America,  is  certainly  one  of  the  greatest.  This 
tradition  Radcliffe  shares,  giving  to  its  students  something 
that  means  more  and  more  to  them  with  increasing  years  — 
the  love  of  learning  and  of  wisdom,  of  courage  and  of  truth. 

Le  Baron  Russell  Briggs, 

President  of  Radcliffe  College 


Page  Thirteen 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


Beginning  in  1879  with  no  endowment  or  other  funds, 
with  no  buildings  or  property  of  any  kind,  Radcliffe  College 
has  to-day  restricted  and  unrestricted  funds,  scholarship 
funds,  building  and  other  funds  amounting  in  all  to  over 
$3,228,000,  of  which  $1,083,000  has  been  invested  in 
land  and  buildings  for  college  uses  and  the  balance  in  secur- 
ities or  real  estate. 

The  total  income  for  the  last  fiscal  year,  from  all  sources, 
was  $250,700,  of  which  $110,500  came  from  tuition  fees. 
The  total  expenses  were  $275,000,  of  which  $109,000 
went  to  pay  the  salaries  of  instructors,  $27,000,  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  the  administrative  and  office  force,  $14,500,  to 
pay  scholarships  and  prizes:  the  deficit  was  $24,300.  The 
amount  paid  for  instruction  under  the  present  arrangement 
with  Harvard  gives  to  Radcliffe  the  services  of  more  pro- 
fessors, assistant  professors,  and  others  than  if  Radcliffe  were 
dependent  upon  its  own  full-time  Faculty. 

The  College  needs  at  once  an  endowment  of  at  least 
$3,000,000  — $1,000,000  to  be  expended  for  new  build- 
ings; $1,000,000  to  be  invested,  the  income  to  be  used  to 
increase  the  salaries  of  the  teaching  force;  $1,000,000  to 
be  invested,  the  income  to  be  used  for  the  general  needs  of 
the  College. 

The  new  buildings  needed  are : 

Two  dormitories  each  costing  at  least  $150,000  . $300,000 


One  new  recitation  hall 200,000 

Laboratories  for  physics  and  chemistry  . . . 200,000 

Central  Heating  Plant 200,000 

Improvements  to  Fay  House 50,000 

Infirmary 50,000 


$1,000,000 


Page  Fourteen 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


To  develop  and  encourage  a proper  college  life  two  ad- 
ditional dormitories  are  needed  at  once  : at  present  the  col- 
lege can  house  only  175  of  its  600  students. 

The  income  of  $1,000,000,  or  say  $55,000  annually,  will 
barely  suffice  to  increase  the  salaries  of  the  teaching  staff  at 
the  same  rate  fixed  by  Harvard  and  will  leave  little  for  the 
probable  increased  expense  of  the  tutorial  system. 

For  the  general  purposes  of  the  College,  including  a 
needed  increase  in  the  salaries  of  its  adminstrative  force, 
long-postponed  improvements  of  the  present  buildings  and 
their  furnishings,  the  income  from  $1,000,000  will  be  nec- 
essary. 

These  are  the  pressing  needs  of  Radcliffe,  in  which  are 
included  no  luxuries  or  extravagances.  Will  you  help  us  to 
raise  the  $3,000,000  ? 

Ezra  H.  Baker, 

Treasurer  of  Radcliffe  College 


Make  checks  payable  to  Ezra  H.  Baker , Treasurer 
Radcliffe  College , 6oj  Boylston  St Boston.  Mass. 


Page  Fifteen 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE 


RADCLIFFE  COLLEGE  ENDOWMENT  FUND 

JA CATION  AL  HEADQUARTERS 

603  BOYLSTON  ST.,  BOSTON.  MASS. 


Qentral  Qommittee 


Miss  Emilie  H.  Everett,  Director 
President  Le  Baron  R.  Briggs 
Dean  Marion  Edwards  Park 
Mrs.  George  P.  Baker 
Mrs.  Hans  W.  Miller 
Judge  Frederick  P.  Cabot 
Mr.  Ezra  H.  Baker 
Mrs.  Richard  C.  Cabot 
Miss  Marion  Churchill 


Mrs.  Augustus  M.  Lord 
Miss  Frederica  H.  Gilbert 
Mr.  Frederick  P.  Fish 
Mrs.  S.  Bruce  Elwell 
Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Piper 
Miss  Annette  L.  Crocker 
Miss  Ethel  B.  du  Pont 
Miss  Cora  Droppers 
Miss  Marguerite  Kimball 


tN^ational  ^Advisory  Qommittee 


Mrs.  George  R.  Agassiz 
Mrs.  Larz  Anderson 
Mr.  George  Arliss 
President  Wallace  W.  Atwood 
Hon.  Robert  P.  Bass 
Mr.  Albert  F.  Bemis 
Dr.  Philip  King  Brown 
Mr.  James  Byrne 
Mr.  Charles  L.  Chandler 
Mr.  Neils  Christensen 
Mr.  Herbert  Lincoln  Clark 
Mr.  J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  Jr. 
Miss  Frances  G.  Curtis 
Mr.  Ernest  B.  Dane 
Mr.  Henry  S.  Dennison 
Senator  T.  Coleman  du  Pont 
President  Emeritus 
Charles  W.  Eliot 
Mr.  David  A.  Ellis 
Mrs.  Kellogg  Fairbank 
Mrs.  William  G.  Farlow 
Mr.  Allan  Forbes 
Miss  Dorothy  Forbes 
Mrs.  Frederick  M.  French 
Mrs.  Louis  A.  Frothingham 
Mr.  Horace  Howard  Furness 
Dr.  Homer  Gage 
Miss  Julia  H.  George 
Mrs.  Arthur  Gilman 
Rev.  George  A.  Gordon 
Mr.  Jerome  D.  Greene 
Mr.  John  W.  Hallowell 
Dean  Charles  H.  Haskins 
Mrs.  Thomas  C.  Howe 
Mr.  Henry  James 
Mr.  David  P.  Kimball 


Mr.  Hugh  Landon 

Mr.  Joseph  Lee 

Mr.  Russell  H.  Loines 

Miss  Alice  M.  Longfellow 

President  A.  Lawrence  Lowell 

Judge  Julian  W.  Mack 

Mr.  George  D.  Markham 

Miss  Ellen  F.  Mason 

Mr.  John  F.  Moors 

Mr.  G.  A.  Morison 

Mr.  Murry  Nelson 

Mrs.  Charles  P.  Noyes. 

Dr.  Archer  O’Reilly 
Hon.  Wm.  Church  Osborn 
Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park 
Mrs.  Henry  Parkman 
Mrs.  Charles  Peabody 
Mrs.  Charles  B.  Perkins 
Mr.  John  Prentiss 
Mr.  Francis  Rawle 
Dean  James  H.  Ropes 
Dean  James  E.  Russell 
Mrs.  Robert  Shaw  Russell 
Mrs.  Richard  M.  Saltonstall 
Mr.  George  F.  Steedman 
Mr.  Philip  Stockton 
Mr.  Charles  A.  Stone 
Mr.  James  J.  Storrow 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Strong 
Mr.  John  E.  Thayer 
Dr.  William  S.  Thayer 
Rev.  Floyd  W.  Tomkins 
Mr.  Eliot  Wadsworth 
Mr.  William  H.  Wellington 
Mr.  George  Wigglesworth 
Mr.  Robert  Winsor 


Page  Sixteen 


Vv>1^ 


N 


